AN UNPREACHED SERMON (197)
Photo by Callum Skelton on Unsplash.
Had a fairly long phone chat with someone recently who contacted me out of the blue. I have known him for years and he has been going through a period of serious doubt about his faith and the general state of the world. He is someone for whom I have always had great respect because of all he has accomplished in Christian work. On the outside, I would have said he was the last person to agonise about what he believed and whether his ministry had achieved anything at all.
We ended up talking about the similar experience of John the Baptiser (Luke 7:18-28). This is always a helpful, practical Bible passage to think about, because very few Christians go through life totally free from questioning doubt.
John was in prison because of his run in with Herod Antipas, a nasty piece of work if ever there was one (Luke 3:18-20).Languishing in jail, he obviously had plenty of time to look back and think about his life’s work. The trouble is, the more he thought about things the blacker the dark cloud descended on him to shroud his thinking.
Having this very honest incident recorded in the Bible is God’s way of helping us see that such experiences can happen to any of us, especially if we are involved in Christian work. The practical nature of the passage, provides great insight into how we might face such a situation if it ever darkens our door.
THERE IS NO QUESTION JOHN HAD DOUBTS.
Despite his greatness, John was not immune to this sort of thing happening, and over the years many great preachers and workers have had to face the same kind of trial. So-called Doubting Thomas and the writer of Psalm 130 are the two biblical examples that spring to mind. But men like William Booth when the Salvation Army was at its height and Joseph Parker when he was filling London’s City Temple to the roof are just two others.
John was in prison “near the Dead Sea” according to the Jewish historian Josephus. He was “in the cooler” for eighteen months, and during that time news filtered through to him about Jesus’ methods and message. Having been at the forefront of the spiritual battle before Jesus appeared on the scene, John was now forced to take a back seat.
He must have known about Jesus’ first ever sermon proclaiming “liberty to the captives” (Luke 4:18) and wondered “why doesn’t Jesus get me out of here?”. But Jesus and John were quite different in their temperaments and ways of working (Luke 7:31-35). Over a year and a half, John’s doubts just piled up and overwhelmed him.
BUT JOHN BROUGHT ALL HIS DOUBTS TO JESUS.
He sent two of his own followers to ask Jesus outright, “Are You the one to come or should we look for another?” (Luke 7:19, 20). Clearly, by this stage in his imprisonment John’s misgivings about Jesus were of a serious nature. He was questioning Jesus’ claims to Messiahship and Deity. The Lord is well able to provide answers to honest questioning.
That says to me that if doubts arise, we should ask “What is happening to me and why is it happening?”. In every experience when we are assailed by doubt Satan will overreach himself in the experience, but God will stretch us to deepen our trust in Him.
JOHN NEVER HAD A FULLY SATISFYING ANSWER.
Faith and doubt will always co-exist in our lives, for no one has perfect faith in this life. Never mistake assurance of faith with cast-iron certainty. Inherent in our walk of faith there is a tension we have to live with until we die.
Jesus provided John with a working definition that allowed him to cope and live through his feelings of doubt. The only solid ground for our faith is not our feelings but what we find here in Jesus’ masterly reply (Luke 7:21-23). The message he sends back to John
• Is based on the words of Scripture
• Points to His own works
• See Isaiah 26:19; 29:18; 35:5; 61:1
JESUS NEVER HAD ANY DOUBTS ABOUT JOHN
In any experience of doubt, depression or despair the most important thing is how He sees us, not how we view and understand Him. Jesus had nothing but praise for John, seeing him as a great prophet, more than a prophet, a messenger and greater than any man (Lk 7:26-29). High praise indeed! Jesus may not have delivered John, but neither did He blame him.
When Joseph Parker eventually climbed back into his pulpit after the death of his wife his first words were, “For three weeks I have been drunk with unbelief”. Similarly, when Catherine Booth was dying, Harold Begbie, in his biography of William Booth, pictured him at her bedside agonising and groping in spiritual darkness, but portrayed him as repeating over and over again, “On this my steadfast soul relies, Father Thy mercy never dies”.
Two rather extreme cases I know, but equally applicable to us when doubt invades and seeks to undermine our faith. We dare not miss what Jesus said. Great as John was, “yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Lk 7:28). That means you and me! Despite the fragility of our faith, Christ has no doubts about us. The only solid basis for our lives and ministries does not lie in our fluctuating feelings, but His unchanging confidence in us. “He’ll not let my hope be lost, He will hold me fast” says the hymn. His grip on us will always be stronger than our hold on Him. We are both held and upheld.
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